Following our recent cracking day out on Snowdon we had got the bug and decided to pay another visit to Wales as soon as possible. This time though we would explore somewhere other than Snowdonia. Our choice would be Cadir Idris and although this was a long way away, it was September and so we would have plenty of daylight to play with. Due to a severe hangover Stuart was in no mood for an early rise, but somehow managed to drag himself out of bed and into the back of Mark’s car. As a result of an excessive alcohol intake the night before Stu remained on the back seat and slept all three hours of the way there. Even once we had arrived it still took much persuasion from Mark and I to shift Stu and get him walking.

After a gentle stroll of five minutes through the woods we followed the well worn path uphill. It’s amazing what a little effort can do for your recovery powers, as Stu was fine by the time we emerged out of the trees. Perhaps it was something to do with sweating out the alcohol in these humid temperatures? One thousand feet later (and still sweating profusely) we emerged into a great bowl with a cracking panorama in front of us. There, beckoning us in, was an amazing turquoise Llyn and behind it the massive cliffs of Cadir Idris towered above into the crystal clear blue sky. Before we could get to this Llyn we had to cross a large hollow, which was dotted with great rocks. One of these was at least twenty feet tall and had one side sloping steeply. There was only one thing for it, we would have to climb it and for the benefit of Shirl and Lorna see if we could obtain some dangerous looking pictures. Despite Stu’s grin, which almost gave the game away we just about managed it. This bowl that contained the Llyn was immense, the setting so tranquille and the sun so hot. This of course made me want to go for a swim, however we still had quite a long way to go and so I had to make do with a paddle. I wouldn’t have minded I could have stayed there all day. Instead we all chose to scramble the remaining thousand or so feet up the ridge towards the summit. If we thought that the Llyn was impressive from down below it was truly awe inspiring from up above. In fact looking down the cliffs of Craig Cam, they seemed almost vertical.

A little further progress from the rim of the Cwm and we were stood on top of the great stone shelter that had been built to mark the summit. I’m not sure what it was used for during the last century, however legend has it that the summit marked the spot where the ancient kings of Wales were crowned. This spot certainly possessed far-reaching views and we could clearly see the estuary at Barmouth, the railway viaduct and Stu’s mate Tom’s caravan (well, Stu was probably still intoxicated). Looking in land the views of Snowdonia were equally impressive. Having obtained our fill of the view we decided that rather than return by the same route we would take the gradual descent over Mynydd Moel. This proved a great success, as we were free to amble down the ridge and occasionally stop off to lig art in the gorgeous sunshine whilst taking in the northerly views. The only issue with this choice of descent was that it would take us to the road a couple of miles from the car. Again we were lucky. Rather than having to walk back on the tarmac we were able to walk along the long disused “old road”. This was much more pleasant, not only could we not see the new road (and it’s traffic), the walking surface had been mostly recovered by grass and was therefore much more palatable on the eyes and limbs.

Was Stu glad that he’d come along? Of course he was. We all know that if he hadn’t surfaced and joined us he’d have spent the whole day in bed. From my point of view my only regret was that I didn’t go for a swim in that gorgeous Llyn.